AROUND two months after United Nations Secretary-general Kofi Annan asked
the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides to set up committees to look into the
technical matters of a potential solution, the Turkish Cypriot side has
announced the names of the members of its two committees.

In October, and while talks came to a close in New York, Annan asked the
two sides to appoint two ad hoc committees each, tasked with examining
the treaties signed by the two sides as well as legislation that would take
effect in the event of a Cyprus solution.

The Greek Cypriot side appointed its committees immediately, and according
to reports considerable work has already been done on both matters.

In a written statement yesterday, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash's
adviser Ergun Olgun said that he, along with Denktash and his second
adviser Mumtaz Soysal, would be co-ordinating the committees.

The two sides' committees are scheduled to start their meetings on January
7, 2003, and will then meet twice a day until February 28.

THE government would not object to facilitating interviews of Iraqi
scientists by the United Nations Monitoring Verification and Inspection
Commission (UNMOVIC), the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) reported yesterday.

Quoting a high-ranking government source, CNA said: “There would not be any
objection from the government” if Cyprus was approached to accommodate
Iraqi scientists for a temporary period.

The source pointed out, however, that if the scientists and their families
were to come to Cyprus, they would not be able to stay for a long period or
permanently basis.

The source was commenting on a report by the Los Angeles Times-Washington
Post news service, which said the head of the UN inspectors, Hans Blix,
and the Director of the International Atomic Energy Authority Mohammad El
Baradei have been negotiating with the US government to convince a country
neighbouring Iraq to provide facilities for the conduct of interviews of
Iraqi scientists.

According to the news service, the country agreeing to host the scientists
and their families would also be expected to provide the necessary
security.

UNMOVIC spokesman Hiro Ueki told CNA that “we are still looking into the
modalities of interviewing Iraqi scientists overseas”.

Apart from Cyprus, the UN was also looking into whether Jordan or Turkey
were willing to take in 42 Iraqi scientists and their families.

Under the toughened UN inspections regime that resumed in November 27,
inspectors can speak privately with scientists and workers associated with
Iraqi weapons programmes and even take them abroad for interviews.

US officials have said they hope the privacy of such interviews would
prompt scientists to reveal hidden weapons programmes.

UN inspections resumed a month ago four years after the last group of
weapons inspectors left Iraq and US and British warplanes bombed Baghdad
for failing to co-operate with UNMOVIC.

A RISE in the number of cases of viral gastro-enteritis is both seasonal
and not unexpected, Health Minister Frixos Savvides said yesterday.

Savvides said the situation was under control and there was no need to
worry.

He suggested that the spate of incidents may have been caused by a gastro-
enteritis epidemic in northern Greece that had been brought to the island
by travellers.

Reports said one in three patients visiting hospital emergency rooms on
Friday displayed symptoms of viral gastro-enteritis, that the number of
those affected had reached 300, and that it is expected to rise further in
coming days.

Savvides said the situation did not warrant the issue of a warning by the
health services but he suggested that people keep warm.

“Those who are ill should not frequent enclosed spaces full of people,”
Savvides said.

He added that special attention should also be paid to the food people eat.

The virus has affected people of all ages. Symptoms include diarrhoea,
vomiting, fever, headaches and muscle pains.

The health authorities say there is no reason for concern, although
hospitals are still preparing to tackle an increased number of cases over
the next few days because of the New Year festivities.

OWNERS of satellite dishes over 1.6 metres in diameter will have to pay £60
to the Ministry of Communications and Works for a satellite dish licence, a
dealer confirmed yesterday.

Speaking to the Sunday Mail, Costas Papacostas of satellite dish dealers
Malloupas and Papacostas said the law on satellite dish licences was passed
in 1993, but it was not strictly enforced.

“You only have to pay for the licence once,” he said. “Every year dealers
have to send a list to the Ministry of Communications and Works containing
the names of all owners of satellite dishes with a diameter greater than
1.6 metres.

“The law was passed in 1993 when everybody owning a satellite dish,
regardless of the size, had to pay £60 for an operating licence,” he said.

Papacostas said dealers had neglected to send the lists to the Ministry
over the past two years because of the pressure of too much work and the
issue seemed to be forgotten. But he added that dealers were ordered
recently by the Ministry of Communications and Works to submit lists of
dish owners.

“A few days ago we received a memo from the ministry asking us why we
hadn't been giving them any names of satellite dish owners, and we were
told that all satellite dish owners with a diameter over 1.6 metres would
have to pay for the licence,” he said.

Papacostas said the extra money was no big deal for people buying very
expensive dishes, but that some customers on a budget had complained the
price was too high.

Owners who have bought a satellite dish since 1997 and who have not paid
for a licence will receive letters over the next few weeks reminding them
to do so.

LIMASSOL police are looking for a foreigner suspected of cashing forged US
dollar traveller's cheques at various Bank of Cyprus branches this week.

According to a police report, a transactions supervisor at the Bank's
central branch in Limassol became suspicious when on December 24, a
foreigner cashed several $100 traveller's cheques at various branches of
the Bank of Cyprus.

After examining the cheques, the supervisor discovered they were fake and
notified the police.

The man is described as being either Russian or Ukrainian, between 20 and
25 years old, and with short black hair. He is thin and about 1.75 metres
tall.